1) With the pandemic, working at home became the sudden norm, but now companies are starting to think ‘remote work’ isn’t that great after all. Companies are finding that projects take longer, collaboration is harder, and the training of new workers is a struggle. While many companies thought remote working would be the future, giving many cost savings, they now say this is not going to be sustainable. Some companies had even decided to give up their physical office spaces entirely, which would be a big savings in operating cost. The early productivity gains that companies witnessed with remote work has peaked and leveled off. Few companies expect remote work to go away in the near term, though the evolving thinking among many CEOs reflects a significant shift from the early days of the pandemic.

2) As oil prices continue to tumble, there are world wide concerns about oil and its effect on economies. Global oil inventories fell at a rate of about 2 million barrels a day in September and October, and that trend will probably continue, as demand unexpectedly fell from the lockdown measures. The European Union is accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels, one of its members still sees its own small oil industry continuing for a decade or more.

3) From the start, all electric automobiles have been plagued by their high cost, but now Ford motor company says they have an affordable $20,000 electric car in the mix. This gives a cost on price parity with traditional vehicles using an internal-combustion engine. Ford is returning to its roots with cars for the common working man, having costs for buyers that will range between $20,000 to $70,000 avoiding the sky-high price tags of other electric cars. Ford is expecting future EVs to account for over 10% of the company’s revenue in the future. The Ford Mustang Mach-E was introduce this year, while the electric F-150 EV pickup is set for a debut in 2022. Ford expects to offer a full lineup of electric commercial vehicles in the future, but a $20,000 EV could be just the ticket to get battery-powered cars into the mainstream.

4) Stock market closings for – 2 NOV 20:
Dow 26,925.05 up by 423.45
Nasdaq 10,957.61 up by 46.02
S&P 500 3,310.24 up by 40.28
10 Year Yield: down at 0.85%
Oil: up at $37.09

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